The Sick Lady
by Ze Great Camicazi
Summary: The Lady is sick and the group has to go get her some meds. But Rose has problems she has to deal with about being a mom. She's afraid she isn't as good a mother as she really is.


**Okay so eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory, and… the Lady. Guess who didn't know the Doctor had a family.**

"Where are we going, Doctor?" Amy asked peering over the railing, her chin propped on her arms. Rory was standing not far away as the Doctor tinkered at the console.

"A planet of healing herbs and herbologists. Thought since Rory is a med student it would be helpful," he said waving off their confused looks.

Suddenly the door that Amy and Rory were never supposed to go near opened and a girl in pajamas, with a blanket and pillow strode out. Her hair was messy and it was obvious by looking at her, she had a cold. She glanced to the Doctor who nodded and flopped down in the jump-seat.

"Urm… Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"There is a girl… um… in your chair…"

The Doctor glanced up and over to the blond girl who had the pillow curled to her chest and the blanket pulled haphazardly over her.

"You'd do better with that pillow under your head," he said then went back to work. The girl mimed him rudely then stuffed the pillow behind her head.

"Doctor? She seems sick… who is she?" Rory asked.

"Oh she's my daughter," the Doctor said absently.

"Your _daughter?!_" Amy gasped incredulously.

"Yes, she's the Lady, by the way, dear, why aren't you in your bed, your mother's not going to be pleased you are up and about while you are recovering," he said moving over to where she was and lighting a hand against her head.

"Don't care. Can't sleep in my bed. Wasn't comfortable. Only comfortable spot in the TARDIS is the jump-seat right now," she moaned.

"There. See? Perfectly logical explanation," he said.

"But…"

"What? Got a problem with it, lassie?" the Lady asked lifting an eyelid and rolling a bright blue eye in her direction.

"Excuse me!" Amy roared getting to her feet.

"Easy, Amy, the Lady _is _sick," the Doctor reminded her, "She is just in a mood."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Hmm," he said whirling around her and lifting her eyelid to look into it, whirring the screwdriver light in her eyes.

"If you have any interest in keeping your hand, you will let me get some rest," she snarled tiredly.

"Er… yes…" he muttered stepping back. "She just has a bit of the flu," he said.

"Yeah human's call it a Super Flu. Don't worry, I'm not contagious anymore. Time Lord Antibodies took care of that. Now I just feel like hell."

"So the Doctor could catch it?"

"No. Time Lords can't get sick with the flu," the Lady muttered.

"Well you did," Amy pointed out.

"No duh I'm only half Time Lord," the Lady grumbled turning over and pulling the blankets up to her ears.

"Half Time Lord?" Rory asked confused.

"Her mum is human," the Doctor explained.

"What?!" Amy gaped.

"Hey! Scottie! Splitting headache here! Shut it!" the Lady yelled over her shoulder.

"Oi!" she yelled back. The Doctor spun and pressed a finger to his lips hissing a 'shh' to her.

"She started it!" Amy yelled back. The Lady sat up and threw the pillow at the Scottish woman, hitting her right in the head, before spinning back around and flopping back into the seat.

"Excellent shot, dear," the Doctor said, walking over to retrieve her pillow only to have it thrown into his own face.

"Shut it," Amy muttered.

"Here you go, sweetie," he said, fluffing the pillow back under her head. She mumbled a thank you and shifted to get comfortable.

"Try and get some rest, that's the best idea for now, yeah?" he asked pushing her hair back from her forehead.

"Yeah," she agreed closing her eyes.

Amy and Rory were still staring at her in shock when the door opened again, and a blond haired woman peeked her head out.

"Doctor? Is the Lady in here? She isn't in her room," she said.

"Sh, sh," he whispered softly raising his hands softly toward her, "She's in the jump seat, just nodded off, love."

"Oh," she said smiling, "Would you bring her back to bed? She doesn't need to be up and about," she said. "Bless her, grumpin' on for hours about not being able to get to sleep."

"Told us the only comfortable place was in the Jump-seat," Amy said.

"Makes perfect sense. She's linked to the TARDIS through the Rift's energy. It's synced to her own and helps her Time Lord antibodies fight. Aids them in helping her human side," he said scooping her up gently. The Lady muttered and nestled into his arms before settling.

"Alright now," he whispered to her, "Let's get you off to bed, yeah? When I get back I should have some medicine that'll clear all this right up."

"Good," Rose said. "Taking care of a sick Time Lord is not fun."

"Careful, there. She may be asleep but she can still hear you," he said smirking at Rose and following her back into the 'family-rooms.'

"So… the Doctor… with a wife and… and a kid… a sick kid…" Rory stammered.

"Yeah…" Amy muttered.

"Secret family…"

"Yeah…"

"Confused?" he asked looking up at his wife.

"Beyond."

They stared at the door a few more moments. "We really shouldn't be surprised by anything with the Doctor anymore," Rory said.

"Nope," Amy agreed.

"Still surprised?"

"Well duh, stupid."

A moment later the Doctor emerged from the door once again and went back to fiddling with the TARDIS consol.

"Soooo are we just gonna pretend that didn't happen?" Amy asked.

"What?" the Doctor asked glancing up from his spot at the consol.

"The whole 'secret-family' thing? Didn't happen?" she asked.

"What do you mean 'secret-family'? I never kept them a secret from you," he said.

"Well we didn't know about them."

"Well you didn't ask," he shot back.

"What were we supposed to ask? 'Hey, Doctor, just wondering if you had a secret family'," Amy said.

"What about River? Thought you married her?" Rory asked, fatherly instincts kicking in.

"Alternate world. Amy didn't actually kill anyone, I didn't actually marry her," he explained.

"But wait, she thinks you did!"

"So does Liz I," he replied. "First rule, Ponds?"

"The Doctor lies," Rory said. "Does she know?"

"Eh… she may… she may not… depends on where we are in the time streams," he said.

"So…"

"It's a constant yes and no," he said. Suddenly glancing at the screen that had just lit up, "Right now is a yes, she has just offered to help. Thank God. Rory get the door for her please," the Doctor said, stepping aside.

Rory listened as he opened the door and River dive rolled in, slamming the door behind her. She looked to the Doctor and smiled.

"Hello, Sweetie."

"River."

"How is our little girl?" River asked wondering across the room to the door.

" 'Our little girl'?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I know she is Rose and the Doctor's daughter technically but I treat her just like my own," River said. "She calls me Aunt River."

"Really?" Rory asked in amazement.

"Of course," River said with a wink, "Mind if I go in?"

"I'm sure Rose would be eternally grateful," the Doctor said. "We should be arriving on Karal in a few minutes. We may need your help finding the proper herbs."

"For you and the Lady, sweetie, anything," she purred leaning close to him.

"Yes, well, she's asleep now so please don't wake her," he said smiling as River started to the door.

"Wouldn't dream of it, sweetie," she said smiling and going inside.

000

River followed the way to the Lady's room where Rose was sitting beside her, dabbing her forehead with a damp cloth.

"How's she doing, Rose?" River asked sitting down beside the mother who ran her fingers over the sleeping girls arm.

"Finally asleep, been trying to get her to sleep for three bloody days. Finally the TARDIS lulled her there. God, I am exhausted, too. Don't get me wrong, River, I love my daughter, but I swear I wanted to choke her sometimes during these past few days."

"Get some rest, dear, I'll look after her for a while. She is half Time Lord, like me, I know just what she will need, and have the stamina to keep up with her. After all we both know the Doctor has _my_ parents to look after as well as you and the Lady."

"You really don't mind?"

"Of course not, dear! You are like family to me, you know that," she said glancing at the Lady who stirred as if having a nightmare. River lifted her hand to her temple and sent pleasant thoughts to the girl.

Rose looked at her a bit confused. "I didn't get the psychic abilities of the Time Lords. Seems the Lady was more favored than I in that department. She is Time Lord by blood while I am merely Time Lord by coincidence," River explained laying the girls hand back down beside her. "You know the Silence told me at one point they wanted to take her from you but for some reason they couldn't… so they settled for me."

"River, you are an extraordinary woman-"

"Who killed and then married your husband."

"And all is forgiven. You have done more for us than we could have asked. You are always there if we need you and we are always there when you need us. That's what friends are for, nevermind what's in our past… or our futures."

"Thank you," River said smiling gently at her. "Now get some rest. You look wiped."

Rose nodded and closed her eyes, not even leaving the chair. Within moments she was sound asleep.

River smiled at her and looked back to the Lady who had her eyes cracked. "She asleep?" she asked. River nodded.

"Thank God," the Lady said sitting up. "Bless her heart, she kept hounding me about sleep but I when I finally did fall asleep she moved me. The second I was away from the Console the only place else that I could have slept was near the Heart of the TARDIS. She wanted me to stay in my room."

"I'm sorry, dearest. You know she has no clues as to how to deal with a sick Time Lord. Your father never gets sick, you know."

"Lucky bugger," she muttered. "Wanna help me to the door of the Heart of the TARDIS? I still want to sleep."

"How long has it been since you have slept?"

"Couple of weeks," the Lady muttered. "Waaaay past the time I should have gone to sleep."

"Yeah… come on, then," she said holding her out her arm.

The Lady grabbed River's arm and the former Time Lord helped her sneak toward the TARDIS heart. The girl was clearly drained as she kept leaning on River and, as they drew nearer, drifting off.

"Almost there, precious," she said.

"Mmm-hmmm," the Lady groaned mostly asleep as it were. The TARDIS was kind enough to set up a cozy little cot and chair to accommodate River and the Lady. And no sooner had the Lady lay her head down than she was asleep.

000

"River?" the Doctor calling her name alerted her to his approach. The Lady was sprawled unceremoniously on her cot on hand tossed over her back the other above her head. One knee pulled up to her stomach and the other reaching out behind her. The blankets were wrapped loose around her waist, baring one of her legs and most of her waist.

"Shh, she's asleep."

"Woke up when we moved her?"

"Yeah."

"I assumed as much."

"Did you need something, sweetie?"

"Yeah we're here. Care to join us?"

"Of course I will but who's going to watch out for the Lady?"

"The TARDIS of course."

"Of course. And if her mother wakes up?"

"I'll end up dealing with her when I get back then. She needs this sleep and she needs those herbs."

"Fair enough," River said giving her a light kiss, "Sweet dreams, sweetheart."

"Right come along then."

000

When the Doctor and his companions returned Rose was standing in the Console room arms crossed over her chest and she had a glare on her face. Amy glanced at Rory and they slipped off to their room. River glanced at the two and slipped off.

"I'll just go prepare these herbs for the Lady."

"What. The. Hell?" Rose said calmly and evenly… which scared the Doctor even more.

"What?" he asked in a fetal last ditch attempt to divert her anger.

"What do you think?" she asked shifting her hips and arching her eyebrow in that threatening 'mom' way as the Lady took to calling it.

"I think… we should go check on the Lady?" he said trying again.

"River will take care of her. we both know she's like a second mother to the Lady."

"I think technically that would be the third mother our daughter has…"

"Doctor!" Rose yelled, flinging her hands down. "I wake up and my daughter is gone! Not only that but she is sick and gone! Where did she go? I don't know because the TARDIS won't let me know. For the first time since I have been on this ship, she won't help me. Any idea why?" she asked.

The Doctor saw his beloved Rose's worry mixed in with her anger and took a cautious step toward her and when he saw her tell of yielding he strode over to her and scooped her into a hug.

"Ohh my beautiful Rose, don't worry a bit about the Lady. She needed some rest, and after I moved her from the Console room she woke up. So when River got her and you drifted off, the Lady asked River to help her to the door to the Heart of the TARDIS, where she is asleep on a cot as we speak. I promise you, Rose, that the TARDIS would never _ever_ let anything bad happen to any of us."

"But I am her _mother_! I have a right to take care of my daughter!"

"You keep moving her from somewhere where she can sleep and she _needs_ her sleep. Especially now when she's sick. The TARDIS isn't trying to take your mothering job from you but she knows that you don't always understand what's going on with her Time Lord physiology… especially now that she has the TARDIS energy within her as well. She's just trying to help is all."

Rose sighed and dropped her arms in exasperation, "I know…"

"What's wrong, dear?" he asked gently pulling her into his arms.

"I don't know. I just feel like the TARDIS is more of a mum to her than I have been…"

"You are an absolutely amazing mum," he said burring his nose in her hair.

"She was taken from me at two. I don't get to see her again until she's an adult and now the TARDIS is taking care of her when I should be. I don't exactly call that mum of the year status."

The Doctor didn't know how to show her that she was wrong. She was a brilliant mother and the Lady would agree if she were up to it.

"My beautiful Rose, you are the absolutely perfect and a _brilliant_ mother. The Lady would tell you that. I'm telling you that. The TARDIS is just picking up where you can't understand what's going on because she knows things about Time Lord children you don't and is just trying to help, pick up where her Human half ends and her Time Lord half begins."

As if giving her input the TARDIS hummed.

"What did she say?" Rose asked, glancing up at him, her beautiful hazel eyes so sad.

The Doctor smiled at her and translated what she said knowing it would make her feel better. "She said the Lady wants her mother." Sure enough the sparkle lit up in her eyes and her shinning smile was back. "Best not keep our little girl waiting." And with that Rose dashed off.

The Doctor smiled and walked around the console of the TARDIS flipping switches. Just a day in the life of the Doctor's family.

**This was super fun to write. Wasn't supposed to post this in reality just after I finished it I felt like I had to share it. :) Enjoy.**


End file.
